Relationship between Sexual Abuse and Juvenile Delinquency among Girls in Kirigiti Girls Rehabilitation and Training Center, Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency, which has partly been attributed to family violence, has been on the increase all over the world. This study sought to find out the extent of juvenile delinquency at Kirigiti Girls Rehabilitation and Training Center (KGRTC): 
 
 To determine the prevalence of sexual abuse among girls at KGRTC, and 
 To examine the relationship between sexual abuse and juvenile delinquency among girls in KGRTC Kiambu County, Kenya
 
 The study was conceptualized by Attachment Theory. The study used an ex-post facto research design that largely employed quantitative techniques. The population study comprised 61 girl child offenders at KGRTC. The research used a census inquiry that included all 61 girl delinquents in the study, and data for the study were collected using questionnaires that were administered to the girls. The validity of the tools was established with the assistance of experts from Pan Africa Christian University (PACU), while the reliability was determined using Cronbach Coefficient Alpha through data collected in a pilot study conducted at the Kamae Girls Borstal Institution. A reliability coefficient of 0.855 was attained, which was considered an appropriate threshold. The quantitative data were analyzed by means of inferential and descriptive statistics with the assistance of the computer software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26. The results from the prevalence of sexual abuse showed that sexual abuse had a global mean score ( =2.16) for all the 12 items used to rate the prevalence of sexual abuse. This indicated that on a general scale, the girls had experienced a moderate level of various forms of sexual abuse, thus establishing that sexual abuse was a significant contributor to the development of juvenile delinquency. The study further revealed the existence of a strong, positive correlation between the sexual abuse and juvenile delinquency variables (r = + .708, n = 59, p < .01). The implications of this research suggest the need to invest heavily in psychotherapy of the girls’ inner hurts and childhood trauma as well as advocacy of appropriate approaches of parenting the girl child. The findings of this study imply that Attachment Theory may serve as an effective guiding principle for studying juvenile delinquency. This study identifies areas where difficulties exist with regard to juvenile delinquency among girls and suggests benefits for the treatment of girls from a systemic and multidimensional aspect.